AstroNews
Finding out if there is life in the Universe is far from easy and even the preliminary steps are full of uncertainties. Planetary scientists don’t completely agree on what ingredients make a planet habitable, so astronomers often focus on simple characteristics such as being at the right distance...
Eclipse
I know why the moon goes red during a total eclipse. But why does it not go red until near totality? Phil, London This is actually a very interesting question, with an (unfortunately) unsatisfying answer. But let’s take a step back and clarify why the Moon goes red during an eclipse, for people w...
How About That?
In a previous post, I discussed how long the Earth would be able to survive without the Sun. We had to assume that our star would magically disappear into nothingness. My friend Gavin asked online: “Can we have a follow-up on no Sun and the effect on orbits?”
In just one minute, thanks to one of the best pop songs of all time, you can learn some amazing facts about Pluto and its moon Charon!
The Astroholic Live
In this episode of the Astroholic LIVE, we get producer Chris on camera for the first time to discuss science and science fiction. We finally get the results of our twitter poll on the best fictional scientist, we discuss how certain songs become popular, the discovery of organics on Mars and Cer...
AstroNews
Last October, scientists witnessed the first neutron star collision thanks to gravitational wave observations and the subsequent use of regular telescopes. Those observations were the first step towards a new method of astronomy, and a new piece of research shows that the discovery has also been ...
The Astroholic Live
In the first International Astroholic Live, we are in Dublin with special guests Shaun and Laurie. In this episode, we chat about homeopathy, public engagement, space mining and Ra-Ra-Rasputin!
AstroNews
As you might have seen in a previous post, I was recently in the Arctic circle and was lucky enough to enjoy the natural spectacle of the Aurora borealis! Northern lights are weird; I think that’s the best way I can describe them. You might see a faint greenish cloud up in the sky, and […]
The Astroholic Live
In this episode of The Astroholic LIVE, we have Kevin Ng talking to us about contagions. We chat about viral phenomena in biology, psychology, and history, and talk a little bit about pesky microorganisms in space.
AstroNews
Hawking’s ‘The Universe In a Nutshell’ was one of the first astronomy books that I read. It was a revelation and it solidified in me the desire to become an astrophysicist, and the need to talk about science. Science was there for everyone to do and understand.
AstroNews
The Juno mission has been able to deliver some pretty stunning images and cutting-edge science regarding Jupiter. And every month, we are learning more about what lies beneath those clouds.
How About That?
The Sun is responsible for all life on Earth and most of our planet’s means of energy production depends on the Sun. We are told that without it we cannot survive, or at least told that we can’t survive for very long. My question is just that: how long would we survive? Our thought experiment […]